Voting the 67th Time to Repeal Obama-Care

  The House of Representatives put up another vote to repeal Obama-care. The vote was 239-186. This was the "67th time the House has voted to entirely repeal, defund or change some provisions of President Barack Obama's signature health care law", according to a Senior Congressional Producer report on CNN dated February 3, 2015. The Republicans obviously do not like the law, but also are not on board with Obama's 10 changes that were made to the law since it has been signed by Obama.
Just like a bill that will go to President Obama for his signature for the Canadian oil pipeline that he is sure to veto, Obama will again take out his veto pen to denounce the repeal of Obama-care if the Senate also goes along with the vote. After all, the President will not let his signature bill of his term as President fail, nor will he allow the millions of people loose their insurance if the bill goes down. It would be one thing if the Republicans had a plan.

  Are they interested in what the insurance community wants? Obviously not. Since the passing of Obama-care, the insurance companies have had record sales, and a record number of people that did not have insurance before now have insurance, including people with pre-existing conditions. If it were up to the Republicans, pre-existing conditions would not be allowed by insurance companies. The Republicans are willing to isolate the people from the healthcare system that need it the most.
So let's take a 'what if' question to the forefront now. What if the Republicans get the Senate to pass the complete repeal of ObamaCare and the Congress over-rides the President's veto? Do they have a plan that would work for the American people? Could they just go back to the old way of doing business, that took over 70 years to change, but President Obama did it in his first term? Not for a moment.

  By voting for the repeal of ObamaCare, the Republicans have signed their own death warrants regarding re-election in 2016. No doubt that Hilary Clinton will win the Presidency now as she is more popular than any stated Presidential candidate on both sides of the Republican and Democratic parties, but she will put together a strategy to defeat the Republicans based on their own record to harm the American people by playing with their health care. All she has to do now is to declare her candidacy, and I am fully ready to continue the journey of the next Democratic President, Hilary Clinton with a newly born website located at http://www.clintoninthewhitehouse.com. It is still in its infancy stages, and the first article has been written an published. I invite all readers of this blog to go to the next website that I will sponsor featuring Democratic politics and the new White House with our new Democratic President, Hilary Clinton.
Some people may claim that President Obama did the same thing when his Democratic Congress passed his health care reform bill. Yes, it was a rocky road, but the country did escape, even in the midst of the worst economic time since the great depression, thanks to the Republicans, lead by our former president, George W. Bush. But what President Obama put together was a plan to help ALL Americans, including the un-insured, under-insured and people with pre-existing conditions. Obviously he has been for the middle-class throughout his Presidency, and the Republicans always seem to be for just the richest 2% of the American people. Greedy Bastards!!! That's what they are, and I have no reservations with saying it.

  Yes, it is true that the Republicans have gained full control of Congress. It usually is easy for them to gain strength in both chambers during an off Presidential election year, as it always seems difficult for the Democrats to show up in the mid-terms. But for the general election, especially the one coming up in 2016, the Republicans most surely will loose the Senate, and possibility the House if they continue on their rampage of the middle class and poor. I already feel certain that they will at least gain back the Senate after electing a Democratic president.

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President Barack Obama - A Most Successful President, for ALL TIME.

The Republicans may not like this, but compared to President George W. Bush in likability and ability to perform his job as President of the United States, many will likely agree on the following statement.... Compare his leadership role against that of his Congress. He has created his signature bill called "the Affordable Care Act" also famously dubbed as "ObamaCare" by the Republicans. He has killed the number one terrorist of all time, Osama bin Laden, He is about the legalize millions of illegal immigrants in the U.S. who have been born here, he has fought hard for the middle class and poor and against the rich, just to name a few. His last two years in Office will seal his place in history as the first black President of the United States. He will always and forever represent CHANGE in America.

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ObamaCare Enrollment Ends on March 31, 2014

The enrollment plan ends on March 31st for those interested in signing up for 'Obamacare'. To date, 4.2 million people have signed up. The administration predicted that approximately 7 million people would sign up. Some believe that the President has procrastinated in putting out the word that the deadline is just around the corner.
  One of the groups not engaged as they should are the Mellineals (people born between 1980 to 2000) and the Latino population. President Obama will be out in a campaign like run in order to bring up attention of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), whose sign up period has just two weeks to go. What is being seen the the Obamacare website (www.healthcare.org) is that there has been increased activity that is expected as the deadline approaches. What is noticed is that the site does seem to be handling the increased traffic. But the issue is that there may not be enough of young people to sign up to help afford the plan to protect older people who most likely will be using coverage on a more regular basis.
  Still, it is not to late to sign up, and there may be another deadline delay, if President Obama believes that it is necessary to extend the deadline to help avoid penalties for not signing up if you do not have insurance.

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The Republican Party, Controlled by the Tea Party

The Republican party may think that they may have a deciding edge over the Democrats and think they now are ahead in many of the major polls, because they truly believe that they have something to run on - the failure of Obamacare. It truly looks as if the Republicans are putting all of their eggs in one basket. Maybe they have and maybe they may not have the edge.
 They are just crying over spilled milk, or a leak that they cannot control. It is true that it has been nothing less than a very bumpy road for Obamacare, but the numbers now show that people are signing up to the new healthcare plan in record numbers. Presently, there have been a minimum of one million people that have signed up to date. Obamacare is the law of the land, regardless of the desire by Republicans to discredit it even before it is implemented and practiced by the people. The question here is why are the Republicans continuing to pursue the reversal of Obamacare, even at the expense of tax payers. Like it or not, another faction of the Republican party  is known as the Tea Party. This party disagrees with the mainstream Republican party on many issues, and they in effect have been the number one destructive faction that is affecting the Republican party, even moreso than the Democratic party.
Evidence of the distructive nature of the Tea Party over the Republicans is witnessed in the recent shutdown of the Federal government, led by a Republican from the Tea party named Ted Cruz. The confirmed cost of the shutdown rose to $24 billion dollars. The Republican party still is not able to understand that being attached at the hip with the Tea Party, they do not have a chance in hell to win the next election. The Tea Party has become so destructive to Conservatives. They are so far to the right, that most of what they portray doesn't make sense, in the fact that what they push as their ajenda couldn't posibilly fly with the majority of mainstream voters of this country.
Evidence of the disgust of the mainstream Republican party is the response of the leader of the House, John Boehner. As members of the tea party recently voted against the recent approved budget by Congress to eliminate another government shutdown in January, the leader of the House openly voiced his disgust with the Tea party members who voted against the bill.
Actually, John Boehner did the right thing for a change, to openly protest Tea Party Senators like Ted Cruz. But he voted on a bill that did not support a primary need for many middle and lower class citizens, as approximately 1.3 million people are now scheduled to loose their unemployment benefits right after Christmas because the Senators did not include a vote to extend unemployment benifits in their bill just passed before taking a recess over the holidays. This failure affects people of ALL ages. It is interesting to note that the money waisted by the Republicans on the latest shutdown of the Federal Government over Obamacare would be what is needed to fun the 1.3 million people now scheduled to loose their unemployent benefits. Almost one half million of these people are just children, now to go hungry, as if they live in a deprived third world country. How disgusting is that.
Even knowing that over a million people were now about to go without benefits to live on, and could no longer afford to purchase the bare minimum necessities, including food, housing and clothing, the Congress chose to go on their holiday recess, which means that they all will now go home and enjoy their holiday cheer, both for Christmas and New Years, knowing that many people will have nothing to celebrate this holiday season, or to live on for that matter. As of December 28, 2013, people will now go hungry, and may even loose their housing, if they cannot afford to pay their rent on time. If nothing is accomplished right after the holiday break when Congress begins again in 2014, I fully expect to see a further drop in the polls for Republicans. People will become desperite, and in my opinion, violence will become prevelant if something is not done soon. Store robberies can and may occur out of the despiration of the people who need food. Needless to say that many of these unemployed may have guns, and gun violence may take a sharp upturn. It is sad that right before Christmas that this state of the nation exists, a country such as affuent as the United States, a country who should be the model for others throught the world.
Is this something that any party can run on? It may be fact that it took both Democrats and Republicans to pass a law such as the latest budget bill, but the fact is that the Democrats will now bring up unemployment insurance as soon as they return in January. This is guaranteed. The Republicans surely do not want the Washington talk to change from what they believe is the failure of Obamacare to extending unemployment insurance. But the fact is that people with no money to live on is actually a more important subject than Obamacare at the moment. The Republicans will not recognize that fact, because if they did, they would have introduced a measure in the latest bill passed to extend unemployment benefits.
Because the President and the Democrats will fully support a new bill to extend unemployment insurance for a minumum of three more months or so, the Republicans will not support it, for the mere fact that the Democratic President supports it. It is for this reason that this will be the number one subject matter for the Senators in January and the senators may take their good old time in resolving such a serious issue. The President already openly stated his disgust for Congress not supporting a bill to extend unemployment insurance/benefits before their recess. The Republicans have nothing to gain, but everything to loose, if they do not side with the Democrats here. But unfortunately for them, the controlling faction of their party, the Tea Party, the group of people that had so much influence over the mainstream Republican party about a month ago, who were directly responsible in shutting down the government with the fractured leadership of Ted Cruz, repeated blunders by the Republican party will continue into the new year, unless the mainstream Republican party can find a way to eliminate the tea party. Until then, the Democrats should enjoy another win for the White House in 2016, regardless of the popularity of the President, regardless of Bengahsi, and regardless of what happens with Obamacare or what happens because of it.
The Republican party has not much support from minorities, woman, the middle class, and the mainstream society who realize that the extremeist right wing party cannot hold ground on their own without the destructive nature of the tea party always getting into the way. They are just crying over spilled milk, or a leak that they cannot control. It is true that it has been nothing less than a very bumpy road for Obamacare, but the numbers now show that people are signing up to the new healthcare plan. Presently, there have been a minimum of one million people that have signed up to date. Obamacare is the law of the land, regardless of the desire by Republicans to discredit it even before it it is implemented and practiced by the people. The question here is why are the Republicans continuing to pursue the reversal of Obamacare, even at the expense of tax payer. Like it or not, the Republican party is not in control, but the Tea party now reigns supreme for the Conservative party. This party disagrees with the mainstream Republican party on many issues, and they in effect have been the number one destructive faction that is affecting the Republican party, even moreso than the Democratic party.
Evidence of the distructive nature of the Tea Party over the Republicans is the recent shutdown of the Federal government, led by a Republican from the Tea party named Ted Cruz. The confirmed cost of the shutdown rose to $24 million dollars. The Republican party still is not able to understand that being attached at the hip with the Tea Party, they do not have a chance in hell to win the next election. The Tea Party has become so destructive to Conservatives and the party they should be representing, the Republican party. They are so far to the right, that most of what they portray doesn't make sense, in the fact that what they push as their ajenda couldn't posibilly fly with the majority of mainstream voters of this country.
Evidence of the disgust of the mainstream Republican party is the response of the leader of the House, John Boehner. As members of the tea party recently voted against the recent approved budget by Congress to eliminate another government shutdown in January, the leader of the House openly voiced his disgust with the Tea party members who voted against the bill.
Actually, John Boehner did the right thing for a change, to openly protest Tea Party Senators like Ted Cruz. But he voted on a bill that did not support a primary need for many middle and lower class citizens, approximately 1.3 million people whom are now scheduled to loose their unemployment benefits right after Christmas because the Senators did not include a vote to extend unemployment benifits in their bill just passed before taking a recess over the holidays. This failure affects people of ALL ages.
Even knowing that over a million people were now about to go without benefits to live on, a figure that can double by summer, and could no longer afford to purchase the bare minimum necessities, including food, housing and clothing, the Congress chose to go on their holiday recess, which means that they all will now go home and enjoy their holiday cheer, both for Christmas and New Years, knowing that many people will have nothing to celebrate this holiday season. As of December 28, 2013, people will now go hungry, and may even loose their housing, if they cannot afford to pay their rent on time. If nothing is accomplished right after the holiday break when Congress begins again in 2014, I fully expect to see a further drop in the polls for Republicans. People will become desperite, and in my opinion, violence will become prevelant if something is not done soon. Store robberies can and may occur out of the despiration of the people who need food. Needless to say that many of these unemployed may have guns, and gun violence may take a sharp upturn. It is sad that right before Christmas that this state of the nation exists, a country such as affuent as the United States, a country who should be the model for others throught the world but forgets its own poor.
 I will repeat this statement now..... Is this something that any party can run on? It may be fact that it took both Democrats and Republicans to pass a law such as the latest budget bill, but the fact is that the Democrats will now bring up unemployment insurance as soon as they return in January. The Republicans surely do not want the Washington talk to change from what they believe is the failure of Obamacare to extending unemployment insurance. But the fact is that people with no money to live on is actually a more important subject than Obamacare at the moment. They may agree with the Democrats and happily pass a bill to extend unemployment insurance just to get the topic back on Obamacare. I have news for the Republicans if they were to do such a thing. The next order of business will be the minimum wage. They (the Republicans) just don't get it. Unless they get an agenda to run on, they are going to loose the White House once again.
Because the President and the Democrats will fully support a new bill to extend unemployment insurance for a minumum of three more months or so, the Republicans will not support it, for the mere fact that the Democratic President supports it. It is for this reason that this will be the number one subject matter for the Senators in January. The Presidet already openly stated his disgust for Congress not supporting a bill to extend unemployment insurance before their recess. The Republicans have nothing to gain, but everything to loose, if they do not side with the Democrats here. But unfortunately for them, the controlling faction of their party, the Tea Party, the group of people that had so much influence about a month ago, who were directly responsible in shutting down the government with the fractured leadership of Ted Cruz, repeated blunders by the Republican party will continue into the new year, unless the mainstream Republican party can find a way to eliminate the tea party. Until then, the Democrats should enjoy another win for the White House in 2016, regardless of the popularity of the President, regardless of Bengahsi, and regardless of what happens of Obamacare or what happens because of it.
The Republican party has not much support from minorities, woman, the middle class, and the mainstream society who realize that the extremeist right wing party cannot hold ground on their own without the destructive nature of the tea party always getting into the way. 2016 couldn't get here soon enough.

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Obama and his Signature Bill under Attack by Republicans

President Obama's signature bill, the Affordable HealthCare Act known as Obamacare, has been under attack by the Republicans since its inception. But it's not just a change in healthcare that the Republicans do not like. It happens to be everything that President Obama represents. In all of my years of living, I don't remember witnessing such an outright hatred for a U.S. President by members of the oposite party.
Yes, it is true that Obamacare has run into a few glitches. Yes, it is true that President Obama may have stated that if you want to keep your insurance, that you can. We all know know that what he said originally was not true. He did not intentionally try to lie to the people, but many argue that he just had to know that many polices that people had were going to be cancelled for the mere fact that they did not meet the minimum standards of Obamacare. The President claims that he is not perfect, and now has publically stated that people who have already had their insurance cancelled can now keep their existing policy for another year. He also met with insurance carriers at the White House in an attempt to get everyone on the same page. A process to re-instate cancelled policies needed to be worked out.
We know that he is paying the price politically. What was not clear was the fact that you could only keep your insurance if the policy that you had, met the minimum standards of Obamacare. Many policies known as 'junk policies' do not provide benefits that are within reason as far as cost and protection, and will never be enough when the policy holder needs to benefit from his policy. 
On Thursday, the President has stated that people will now be able to keep their policies for the next year, even if they do not keep within the basic standards with Obamacare. People who have sub-standard policies can now keep them for a year. The immediate problem that some face is the fact that many of these policies have been cancelled by the insurance companies, because they know that they haven't provided the minimum coverages needed to keep their insurance policies in force. Now the challenge is to get these policies reinstated for another year, but the cost may change. Another requirement by the President is that the insurance companies that re-instate their so called 'junk policies' must show a comparison from their plan verses the Obamacare plan. This is an attempt to show the policy holder what is lacking in their present policy. But what most likely will happen is that the insurance company will no longer issue their 'junk policy' as originally given to the policy holder. Instead, they will up the ante by introducing more benefits, which will make their policies look better than before, but will be at a higher price.
No one said that it would be easy when Obamacare came into force, but many people, namely the representatives in Congress from the right, are doing everything in their power to make sure that Obamacare fails. The president will do everything in his power to keep his signature bill in force. There has been less than 120,000 people that have signed up within the 1st month of the Obamacare offering, but it surely will pick up speed within the next few months. The President has vowed that the website issues that plague Obamacare and has affected President Obama's credibility will be running allot smoother by the end of November.
Meanwhile, Democratic Senators in the House have sided with the Republicans to introduce a bill to modify Obamacare. This certainly will not make it past the President's desk, as a veto by President Obama will surely become reality. No doubt that the people in the House that hate President Obama will attempt to chance things in his bill that he would not approve of.
The fact is at the moment, the Affordable Care Act is the law of the land. The Republicans can do whatever they like as far as making amendments to the bill, but the final outcome of the modifications will have to be approved by the President himself, and the Republicans after almost 6 years of this Democratic president still do not know how to communicate with the White House in a way to get things done.
What is happening now to the President surely will help define his presidency. Obamacare must work, and the president knows it. Still with all the outright dissention of his bill, he has vowed to continue to make Obamacare work. His goal as it was from the beginning was to make sure that all people of the United States have health insurance. He may have been blinded at first, not knowing what opposition to his bill would be uncovered, but the president is now as determined as ever to see it through.
Republican opposition to President Obama and what he represents is not the only thing that the Republicans in Congress attack. They also reject bills that have an overall majority of approval from members of both parties in Congress and the American people but Republicans including the House leader John Boehner will not even let the bills come to a vote. My next article here will highlight some of the bills that the Congress should be voting on, but they are not because of some Republican member agendas that only exist because they benefit themselves personally. They are not concerned as to what the majority of Congress wants, nor what is right. Hopefully during the next election in
2016, besides another Democratic president will be the re-birth of a Democratically lead House of Representatives. If the Republicans continue to act as they have in Congress, the chances of another gavel change in the House is imminent. Witness to this recently has been the election of a few Democratic governors in a recent election.

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Junk Insurance Plans Dumped because of ObamaCare

If you listen to the Conservative media, you will now hear day in and day out that many people are now loosing their insurance coverages. At the same time you will read on the latest Gallup poll that as far as Obamacare approval is concerned, 41% now approve in August, but now in October, the number has jumped to 45%. It seems to be gaining in popularity. So what is the real story. Yes, many people have received notices by now that their insurance plan is being discontinued because of the Affordable Care Act, Obama's signature bill.
Presently, there seems to be so much negativity in the media about health care right now. It seems that none of the media has a single good thing to say about it. Are they right? Is ObamaCare bad for the American people?  The answer is 'NO'. Obamacare is not bad for the American people. Of course, I'm just the writer and editor of this blog, and you don't have to believe me. But it doesn't take rocket science to do a little research. But what you see on TV day in and day out are reporters, mainly from the Conservative markets that are always negative about Obamacare because they can be viewed as "journalistically compromised". If they do, they will not be showing a very great deal of integrity if they say something positive about ObamaCare. Examples would be.... Fox News and CBS News. On "CBS This Morning" reported that at least 2 million Americans cannot renew their health insurance policy. Governor Cristie also makes a report on the CBS morning show that "people are not told the truth, remember that they were told that they would be able to keep their policies if they liked them." The conservative markets want ObamaCare to fail.
There is so much mis-information about ObamaCare these days, I think it's time to take a closer look, actually just highlighted points I'm about to make here can give you allot more information about the Affordable Care Act, dubbed by the Conservative markets as ObamaCare.

To start, at least 14 million people in this country buy insurance on the individual marketplace. What does that mean? It means that if you were one of the lucky ones to already have insurance on the individual marketplace, there will be NO CHANGES TO YOUR PLAN. Well, how about that? Or just maybe there will be changes..  You are actually what can be considered 'grandfathered in'. But what if you are one of those 14 million that purchased junk insurance, and now your insurance company makes changes to your plan, like changing your premium and your plan is no longer valid, then you would recieve as so many people have by now, a cancellation notice.
So what does that mean? It now means that you will be forced to be upgraded to insurance with "standards" under the Affordable Care Act. Obamacare is all about raising the standards in America. Now that doesn't really sound that bad, does it.

So let's start with junk insurance, or what is better called 'low quality insurance plans'....  In many cases if you were enrolled in such a plan, you may be better to have no insurance at all than to fork over hard earned money into a plan that is not good for anyone.

As an example of a junk insurance plan, let's take a look at  a 'Fixed Benefit Indemnity plan..

The cost may be $450 a month, which is allot for many families, but some people have no other choice. The plan can hang you out to dry financially.  

For $450 per month, you can get $100 apiece each for 5 doctors visits. How about a grand amount of $50 a year for tests and screenings and the kicker, where people think that they really have something is when they are told they will get at least $1,000 a day, for up to 30 days in the hospital. Such a great deal, isn't it.

Well think again. the average doctor's stay in the hospital on the average is over $1,700 a day, so the money you will collect under your junk insurance plan wouldn't even cover for 30 days in the hospital. That doesn't acount for the specialized tests and screenings, and multiple blood tests that are a regular thing that takes place multiple times a day, every day. How about doctor's visits in the hospital room. How about specialists that are needed in your particular case. How about extra things like special nursing care or daily physical therapy, even after you leave the hospital.

On a personal basis, I was admitted to the hospital last January for a blood clot in my right leg, which required an operation and special therapy in the hospital and afterwords for approximately 2 months at home by professionals after I left the hospital. The hospital stay alone cost over $90,000 for just a week's stay, and without insurance I would have had to pay that bill myself. I had to take a blood thinner called Warfarin. The drug requires regular weekly blood tests once a week because the drug is so dangerous. This test was done in an outpatient clinic in a hospital. Do you think that the junk insurance plan as stated above would cover such medical needs. Of course not. On what I call a minimum good plan, I would have had to pay at least 25% of that cost. Instead, I only paid less than $700, which was my total personal liability for the hospital stay and pay nothing for any of the outpatient services. Having insurance is a wonderful thing, and as you get older, you will discover that you will depend on it more and more. If you are one of the unlucky ones not to have it in the past, you now have the ability to have it now. Maybe not the same plan that I have, but to give you an idea what you can now have, especially if you have no insurance at the moment.

Now, with ObamaCare, here are the new standards that MUST be provided to consumers...  which are considered essential health benefits..

1) Ambulatory services are included with ObamaCare
2) You can be covered by Emergency Services even if you are not admitted to the hospital.
3) Hospitalization is covered under ObamaCare (Includes surgery)
4) Maternity and Newborn care is covered under ObamaCare
5) Mental health and substance abuse using disorder services are also covered under ObamaCare
6) Perscription drug costs are covered under ObamaCare
7) Rehabilitative services are covered under ObamaCare, including physical therapy under ObamaCare
8) Laboratory services must be covered under ObamaCare
9) Preventative wellness visits will be covered under ObamaCare
10)Pediatric services must be covered under ObamaCare

These are just the top ten highlighted items that will be addressed under the Affordable Care Act, known as ObamaCare.

To top the list just mentioned is that for all of this, there are 2 main benefits that all of the above mentioned fall under. First, there is NO LIFETIME LIMITS ON COVERAGE FOR THESE BENEFITS, and second, PRE EXISTING CONDITIONS ARE COVERED. No one can be turned away, regardless of your condition or when you became stricken.

Now is this better than the junk insurance plans that are already falling by the wayside? Should anyone care that junk insurance is falling by the wayside now that ObamaCare is here. Of course they shouldn't. The conservative markets claim at least 2 million people are loosing their health insurance. That most likely is a good thing, because they now have a chance to purchase insurance that would really work for them.  Isn't it a good thing that people now have the ability to receive good health care now, even if you have a pre-existing condition, and you don't have to worry about the limits to the coverage?

What you have just read here are the minimum standards that ObamaCare will now bring to the marketplace. Be happy to have the ability now to get rid of your junk insurance policy. It's about time that you had the quality health care that you deserve as a citizen of this country.

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Consequences of Republican Actions

Political fear is the reason for Republican actions, but the American people have to take the damage. Republican politicians feel that they must only rule according to their conservative ideas, not on what is truly right for the American people. This is what has become the core of almost every Republican decision in Congress today. Decisions are not made for the people by the Republicans. The decisions are made only for what they believe in, centered totally around their conservative ideas, not what is best for their own constituents. Shutting down the government for over two weeks lead by Senator Ted Cruz is very much proof of this, even though many of his fellow Senators say that they disapproved of his actions. The United States lost millions of dollars because of it, and for what end goal? The 'Sequester' is even more proof of the damages caused by Republican inaction. Because the Republicans in the House would not vote on a measure to stop the sequester, it automatically went into effect, and lots of money earmarked for several government funded programs were cut, including some military programs which hurt the security of the country. But Republicans just do not seem to care.
The goal of the shutdown was to defund ObamaCare, a law that is now considered the law of the land. But no, the Republicans have voted over 40 times to try and stop a law that they in a do-nothing Congress can not stop at this time. But what did they decide to do instead to further push the issue? The Republicans led by Senator Ted Cruz, implemented the government shutdown on the very first day of the opening of the Affordable Care website of Healthcare.gov. Some of the Republicans, lead by Ted Cruz, intentionally wanted to see no government oversight of the newly created website on its very first day in action. Of course now we know that the website has major issues, and does not run efficiently because of some technicalities, and the Republicans are taking every opportunity to put down the website and make another statement that implementation of the new healthcare plan needs to now be postponed. Of course, to date the President says that healthcare will be implemented as planned and will be done on the present schedule.

Another example of the political infection by Republicans are comments and now actions to follow by Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican in Congress that claims that he will vote against every single nomination by the President to delay any further nominations by the President. His reason... Benghazi. He says the fight against the Democrats and Hilary Clinton is not over, and that until justice is served, he will continue to fight against every single Democratic candidate for office until he is satisfied with the outcome of the Benghazi affair.
Talk about being radical, here goes another senator, just like Ted Cruz, who thinks he has answers on how to get things done, and it has to be his way, or the highway.
At the end, will he be successful? Most likely not, but not much that the republicans are doing these days are successful, except to make the American people suffer from their actions. The people will not have the needed representatives standing up for them in proper time. And yes, why would any Republican want to block the nominations? Of course the reason has to be that the Democratically elected President is nominating fellow Democrats to fill the bill. This is still another political move by select Republicans to block the success in government, as long as President Obama is in power. What will they do when Hilary Clinton becomes president in 2016? And in case you may not be aware of it, I am already predicting that she will run for President and will win the election. I am so certain of this, that I have waiting in the wings another website, or maybe two of them now parked, with the following URL's:

Clintoninthewhitehouse.com and Hilaryinthewhitehouse.com

Leading the way of inaction is the Republican controlled House of Representatives. They can't pass bills. The only thing they can do on a weekly basis is not vote on anything but surely remember to go on vacation. Is this a way to get re-elected? Mid-term elections are around the corner in 2014, and usually the party in office at the time stands to loose many of the mid-term elections, but this year, because of Republican issues, a party that is in so much disarray, the Democrats not only have a good chance to win the White house in 2016, but stand to win back the House in 2014. Only time will tell.  Again, thank you Republican party for helping the Democratic cause in 2016.

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Affordable Care Plan

Already, with just 3 weeks into the beginning of the signup period for the affordable care plan known as Obamacare, it is proven that more people stand to gain health insurance than ever before.

Examples to date are as follows....

1) In the state of Oregon, 60,000 people under the Medicaid expansion of Obamacare have signed up. This stands for over a 10% reduction of uninsured in the state of Oregon.

2) In the state of New York, over 150,000 people have signed up for a private insurance plan using the state's exchange website.

3) In the state of Kentucky, approximately 1000 people per day are signing up for insurance using the state insurance exchange. By the way, there are at least 640,000 people in the state of Kentucky without insurance.

4) In the state of Washington, at least 35,000 people have enrolled in Medicaid, and at least 5,000 of them have enrolled in private insurance plans, not including another 60,000 people who have completed applications.

This is just the tip of the iceberg that proves there is now increased access to insurance which also includes access to Medicaid. Unfortunately for some applicants using state exchanges, Medicaid is now either not available or some still may not qualify for it like other states provide in Democratically controlled states. Republican controlled states run by Republican governors are limited to what the Republicans will allow concerning Medicaid, and unfortunately the people of those states needing the benefits of Medicaid cannot benefit from it.

It is true that the new ObamaCare website at healthcare.gov has been plagued with issues, but it is with the persistence of the complaints by Republicans that will bring to light all the issues that need fixed, and everyone that would need to use this site to purchase insurance will stand to benefit just by all of the complaints posed by the Republicans. Scrutiny ironically made by the Republicans, by the party that oppose Obamacare, will be just the medicine that the new health exchange at healthcare.gov needs to truly be successful.

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ObamaCare, Government Shutdown and the Federal Debt Limit

It's been three days and counting, as the Democrats and the Republicans have come to a stalemate regarding a bill that had Obamacare and government funding packaged in one bill. Great idea HOUSE! The Republicans are demanding the demise of Obamacare, but so far have been unable to stop it. The bill that had absolutely no hope of passing in the Senate, led to a government shutdown, with what seems to be no end in sight. Just the absolutely essential parts of the Federal government are running at this time, and Federal employees are feeling the pinch.
President Obama vowed to veto the bill even if it passed the Senate and ended up on his desk. The one piece of legislation that he will be known for in history would go down to defeat with a single signing of his pen. Of course that will never happen. The Republicans continue to pass legislation in the House, now over 40 times to defeat Obamacare. Obamacare now is the law of the land. Last week, the 'exchanges' became active, allowing people who could not qualify for insurance or basicially had no means to acquire it to now have insurance coverage.
Granted, the program dubbed 'Obamacare' by the Republicans will have it's bumps in the road as does any new major program, and it is coming to light that many employers are afraid of the costs that they will have to endure to employ people and supply insurance to everyone. The law states that everyone needs to obtain insurance or pay a penalty under law.
After the filibuster speech by Republian Senator Ted Cruz, the Republicans were still not able to defeat Obamacare.
In a desperate attempt to get something done in Washington, it now appears that the Republicans are moving away from the Obamacare fight. Many Republican Senators now know that they cannot breakup Obamacare, and they are now fighting with hard right wing Republicans to do what is necessary to get the government open again. But now they suddenly have another problem on their hands, the need to raise the debt limit. The deadline to do this is just two weeks off, and if an agreement to raise the debt limit cannot be reached, then the government will go into default and will no longer be able to pay it's loans. The last time the Republicans held out in raising the debt limit, they costed the United States a ton of money, along with a decrease in credit rating, from AAAA to AAA. So what's next if a debt limit increase is not passed? Is it possible to go from AAA to AA? You can hardly imagine that the U.S. government didn't learn its lesson the last go around, but appearently they haven't. All they seem to want to do is pass temporary measures to fund the U.S. Government. This works for a short period of time, but then we must go through this all over again.
Just like President Obama is taking a hard line on Obamacare, he will now again take a hard line regarding the debt limit. He wants to pass a permanent measure to fund the government, not piece together temporary measures to please the Republicans. Before President Obama leaves his 2nd term of office as president, he will do everything he can to fight for his cause for the middle class, starting with Obamacare, ending two wars that a republican President by the name of George W. Bush got us into, along with a host of other bills that he will take credit for, becoming one of the more famous Democratic presidents in U.S. history, to the dislike of the Republican party along with the conservatives that try to disassociate themselves from their own party.

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Will Hillary Clinton Run for President

Three years and counting down, the question in everyone's mind, especially the Democrats is 'Will Hillary Clinton run for president in the next election!' Is she qualified? Of course she is!! Will she tell everyone that she is going to run soon? Of course not!  Why? No incumbent President, namely Barack Obama wants her to reveal the fact that she will be running for President in the next election, at least not until the end of his term. It would take all the eyes off of him and his presidency and further turn it into a tailspin as a 'lame-duck' president. Suddenly, the Republicans would aim their guns at Hilary because she is their next threat, whether they know it or not.
In any pole that you may take regarding anyone from both the Republican or Democratic parties, Hilary Clinton is well ahead of any potential candidate. She has the knowledge and knows what it takes to run for President, as she ran directly against Barack Obama in the very bruising Presidential election in 2008. in the past, she may have lost the nomination to him, but she gained so much knowledge and is in tune as to what it takes to run for president. She already has the experience. No-one else out there that may run from either the Democrats or Republicans has that knowledge.
So who from the Democratic side could be considered to run? First, most of the possibilities on the Democratic side already support Hilary to run, so I doubt if there will be any kind of field at all of candidates from the Democratic party that would run against her to gain the nomination. It's like the nomination is already named, but of course the campaign hasn't even begun. Of the now possible candidates to run for president, in a recent CNN/ORC International survey shows that Hilary leads all other Democrats and Independents as she is favored now by 65% from the others to be backed by the party as the presidential nominee. Vice President Joe Biden came in a distant second, at 10% with freshman Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts at 7%, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo at 6%, and Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley at 2%.
So the thing to do here is just wait, show a little patience and without a doubt when the time is right, the world will know who will run from the Democratic side.
With this said, the field is wide open on the Republican side, and with them showing so much disarray concerning government issues, namely Obamacare and now a possibility of a shutdown in government due if the Senate doesn't approve of a bill that was submitted to them by an out of touch House, it will just further everyone's resolve to elect a Democrat again in the next election.
What is the 'right' thinking. They try to kill 'Planned Parenthood' by systematically shutting down the abortion clinics in many of the states, then change the laws so that people in Democratic states cannot vote with their rediculas Voter ID system laws, which incidentally affects many college students, now to continuously vote against Obamacare now over 40 times in the House, and finally now trying to stop the government from running by attaching that bill to the Obamacare bill they are sending to defeat. They actually believe that they can actually get something done in Washington with these antics. The right continues to support bills that affect the middle class and the poor, push away women and minorities and think that they can get away with it by now winning back the White House. It will be a cold day in hell when that happens. The 'Right' needs to wake up and smell the 'Democratic' roses.

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What We Will Not Have and What was Gained as a Result in the 2012 Election

The country may not realize what they had actually accomplished by not voting for Mitt Romney for President. If he were successful in his bid for the highest office in the land, a slow destruction of a long list of accomplishments gained by this Democratic President Barack Obama would have happened.

 Because of the vote, you are not going to have the following...

1) We are not going to have a supreme court that will overturn 'Roe vs. Wade'.

2) There will not be a repeal on health care reform. By 2014, Obamacare will be in full force.

3) No-one's going to kill medicare.

4) Millionaires and billionaires will not get 20% tax cuts, and expect programs like food stamps and child's health insurance tax cut for the rich. .

5) You will not have to clear it with your boss if you can get birth control through the insurance plan that you are on.

6) Rape will not be redefined.

7) U.S. Constitution will not be amended to stop gay people from getting married.

8) Guantanamo will not be doubled in size.

9) The Department of Energy, or the Department of Education, or housing at the
Federal level will not be eliminated.

10) An extra 2 trillion dollars will not be spent on the U.S. military even if they originally didn't want the money.

11)Student loans will not be scaled back, with the idea in mind that the new plan would think you should borrow money from your parents.

12)We will not be vetoing the 'Dream Act'.

13) We are not going to self deport. Romney was for it.

14) We are not letting Detroit go bankrupt.

15) We are not starting a trade war with China on inauguration day in January.

16) We are not going to have as a president, a man who once led a mob of friends to run down a scared gay kid, to hold him down and forcibly cut his hair off with a pair of scissors while that kid cried and screamed for help and there was no apology, not ever. .  Read that story right here..

17) We are not going to have a Secretary of State John Bolton..

18) We are not bringing Dick Chaney back.

We are not going to have a foreign policy stalked with architects of the Iraqi war. We have he choice to do that if we wanted to do that as a country, and right now we said no on the night of the election.

To be fair if you were a conservative, a few things did go your way..

1) The Republicans did not loose that senate seat they may have lost in Arizona..  Another Republican was elected, Jeff Flake.

2) The Republicans did not lose that Senate seat in Nevada, the Republican incumbent Dean Heller won re-election.

3) Last election, the President carried 28 states in 2008, and lost a few to the Republicans this time, Indiana and North Carolina.

4) Remember the Thaddeus McCotter seat in Michigan? Because he screwed up, another guy whom the Republicans have dubbed as the shirtless reindeer guy, someone who could never win in Michigan and would end up in jail if the voters elected him, won the election.

Mainly because of redistricting, the Republicans were never in danger of loosing the house, but what they actually won is a very very short list.

But now let's focus on what went well for the Democrats last night.

1) Starting with the Senate race in Missouri, a woman who everyone thought would loose, Clair McCaskill won her Senate seat over the very controversial Todd Akin by a wide margin, 55% against 39% for the Republican incumbent  Did the republicans think that the voters could ever forget the comments made by Todd Akin about women who get raped? Obviously not.

In Massachusetts,  Scott Brown who won a surprise mid-term election when Ted Kennedy passed away in 2010, lost in the 2012 election to the foremost authority on the economic rights of the middle class, Elizabeth Warren. Why so? Maybe because he supported Mitt Romney for President so strongly, and voted against the wishes of a solidly Democratic state of Massachusetts  The voters of that state wanted to accept his promise that he would be independent in his thinking and support for the state, but in the end, it was clear that he was bleeding red Republican blood, through and through. He lost mainly because of the gender gap. Women would not support him.
Instead of focusing the debate on him, he focused the debate on Elizabeth Warren, claiming that she could not possibly be 1/32 Cherokee Indian because as he said she should not possibly be a person of color, but "as you can see, she is not." Instead of his proving that she was not of color, he was insulting and showed prejudice against her race.

For marriage equality, same sex marriage, in the state of Maine, Maryland, voted for the measure. In Minnesota  they were asked to vote against marriage equality, but the voters refused to ban it. In Washington state, they became the 9th state to vote for marriage equality.

A judge in Iowa, Judge Wiggens, kept his seat after supporting marriage equality.

Nevada elected it's first African American congressman, Steven Horsford, over Republican Danny Tarkanian.

In Wisconsin, the first openly gay United States woman senator was elected, along with a first ever to be elected Asian woman Senator for Hawaii.

Another woman,  a Democratic Iraq war veteran, Tulsi Gabbard, age 32, a first Hindu member of the U.S. Congress for Hawaii. Gabbard previously served as Hawaii's youngest state representative, elected in 2002, and was the youngest woman in the United States to be elected to a state legislature. She is currently a Company Commander with the Hawaii Army National Guard, and has volunteered to serve on two deployments to the Middle East. She is also vice-president and co-founder of the environmental non-profit organization Healthy Hawaii Coalition. She is a woman to watch, because she is on the fast track of becoming very famous some day.

Another woman, Tammy Duckworth, who is a war veteran helicopter pilot who lost both of her legs in the Iraqi war has won election, and she is sending home someone who mocked her for her war record, Joe Walsh.

California relaxed it's 'three strikes your out' law. and rejected a law to cripple the power of unions. With the 'three strikes you're out law' repeat offenders of even non violent crime would get a 'life' sentence  For second time offenders, it would double the penalty/jail sentence for first time repeat offenders. Repeat offenders would have to serve there time in prison, would not be eligible for parole. Juvenile convictions along with out of state convictions would count as strikes. Again, this law was overturned.

Decriminalization of marijuana was approved in the states of Washington and Colorado.

In North Dakota of all places, the Democrats gained a Senate seat. Another woman by the name of Heidi Heitkamp won election there over the Republican Rick Berg.

In Ohio, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Virginia  not only did Republicans loose the Presidential race, but they also lost the Senate race. There was a democratic sweep of the Presidency and of the Senate races took place, and the verdict is out for the state of Florida. But sometime around noon today, Saturday November 10, the verdict will be in and will be the major news story of the day as the votes will be revealed for that state.

Democratic women swept every major office in the state of New Hampshire.

In California, the Democrats won a 'super' majority in the state House and State Senate. That means that the Republicans are now completely legislatively irrelevant in the state of California.

More woman got elected to the U.S. Senate than any time in U.S. history.

Both Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan lost the Presidential races in their respective home states.

Missouri, Montana and West Virginia chose Democratic Governors.

West Virginia and North Dakota chose their first gay person for their legislature.

Joe Leiberman's old seat went to a Democrat in Connecticut named Chris Murphy.

The proportion of young people voting compared to 2008 went up, and also with African Americans and Latinos.

President Obama was not only re-elected to the Presidency, but he will go down in history as one of the most successful Presidents since FDR. Not only did he get re-election with big electoral margins, but he won re-election with a majority of voters in the popular vote and now he did it twice.

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Who Will Win the Election - - Obama or Romney

If you are wondering who's most likely to win this presidential election, I would say that President Obama will win. I am speaking from the heart, but all the polls suggest that both candidates, the President and his challenger Mitt Romney are neck and neck with each other. Will the winning candidate win by just electoral votes and lose the popular vote, or will it be an overwhelming victory in both areas? The fact is, that no matter who is actually elected here, there will be just about as many Americans will have also voted against him. The country is divided when it comes to whom they support. Regardless of which poll you favor, regardless of what they tell you, in the end, just one of these two men will be left standing. When it comes to principles and the desires for the middle class, the majority of Americans in this country, President Obama should win hands down. When it comes to the rich and to the extremely conservative principles of the other candidate Mitt Romney, the rich will not be the deciding factor in this race.
An increasingly number of white voters are no longer supporting Barack Obama, but in mostly all other categories and races, the President is winning. Approximately 20 million voters have already voted early, and it is promising that the turnout on election day may set a new record. But the turnout in actual votes may not matter, as was the case when George W. Bush was out-beat in actual poll numbers by some 500,000 + votes. He won the electoral vote with 271, just one more than needed to win the election.
This election will be won on principles alone, regardless of the record of either candidate. Yes, Bain capital may contribute to why Mitt Romney may not get elected, or the fact that he wants to appeal 'ObamaCare', or the fact that he wants to destroy 'Planned Parenthood', or the fact that he wants to turn Medicare into a voucher system. Who's to say that he can't accomplish this, repeal Obamacare if the Democrats cannot keep the Senate or cannot regain the House, especially if Mitt Romney wins.
The President has said time and time again that if he does not win, American will no longer go forward towards a recovery, and that everything he has gained in his presidency could be lost.
Will the elderly vote for Obama or Romney. Will the women support Obama or Romney. Will the blacks support Obama or Romney. You may think that you have the answers on these questions and others that may have a profound effect on this race, but in the end, the one candidate that has the most electoral votes will decide the direction of the country.
And then there is the wake of Hurricane Sandy that devastated the east coast of the United States only a week ago. Will the voters still come out and vote? If they haven't already, I expect to see a record turnout.
One thing I'm looking forward to after the elections regarding who wins, is that all of the negative ads will be now history, or will the opposite of the winning side renew a campaign to try and discredit the winner? Regardless of who wins, Congress is expected to be split between Democrats and Republicans and this will be gridlocked more than ever.
President Obama tried in the past to favor a bi-partisan Congress. It will be interesting to see if the Congress will now turn around no matter who wins and start passing bills that would be in the best interest of the citizens of this country instead of only passing laws that benefit them.

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The Last Presidential Showdown before the Election

The showdown in Boca Raton, Florida is almost upon us. The debate can be watched on CNN.TV, CNN.com and CNN's apps for the iPhone, iPad and Android and one of your favorite news feed TV channels.
Presently, the President has a 50 to 45% edge over Romney in Ohio according to a Quinnipiac University/CBS News survey released this morning. If debates matter, which seems to be the question of the last few weeks, then the winner of this debate may just win the White House. The goal.... to win over as many of the undecided voters that you can. Both campaigns are in full swing, blanketing the swing states of Ohio, and Florida. The money is pouring in by both political campaigns, and another spending record most likely will be set for this election season.
But the reality and results of all the hard work by both candidates will appear in less than 2 weeks from now, as the voting will begin.
Will there be a 45th President of the United States, or will the 44th President become successful in his bid for re-election?
All the polls, all the hype, all the time spent on politics and the political season has just about come to a head. Voters in many states just really can't wait until it's all over. Regardless of who wins and who looses, there will be a very jubilant side, and a very sorrowful side. The loosing side will accuse the other of cheating, and of bad politics, and the winning side will concede that the better candidate did win. Regardless of what happens, the country will have another president for the next 4 years. If it's President Obama in a successful bid for his re-election, the country will continue to bounce back from what is considered one of the worst times since the great depression. If Mitt Romney wins, then all bets are off. Will the country return to what it was prior to Barack Obama? Will the country loose Obamacare? Will Social Security still live on, and for how long? Will the middle class fall off a cliff with the policies of a Republican president, or will the rich just get richer?!
Will the U.S. alliances with other countries become stronger or weaker? Just so many questions to answer, but I'm wondering if it is worth the chance to change gears so drastically in the middle of this race to keep the economy from reaching a disaster. The safe bet would be to re-elect President Obama. Why? Because there are tons of facts to prove that he is the most honest of the two candidates, is most dedicated in helping the middle class, the group of people who most need relief. For me, it's a clear choice. Do you want a man who has told the truth and continues to do so, and will not lie for political gain, or will you vote for a man who has flip-flopped in so many issues and lies every time?  You must wonder why Romney would ever think he could win.
And if he does, then I was wrong. The people will speak out on election night. Whoever wins, the citizens of the United States are stuck with that man for the next 4 years.

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Obamacare Likely Here to Stay

By CALVIN WOODWARD and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR, Associated Press

November 3, 2011

To hear some Republican presidential candidates tell it, the president's pen is a magic wand that can make "Obamacare" vanish in one day and sweep in cheaper health care, economic growth and lots of jobs in businesses freed from the health care law's heavy hand.

But there is no such fairy dust in Washington.

Across the board, the contenders pledge to repeal the health law they denigrate as "Obamacare." In doing so, some are more realistic than others about what they can achieve and how fast.

The Republican case against the law comes with a dose of myth-making that may raise false hopes among voters who wish it could, in fact, simply go "poof." If the overhaul is to fall, it won't happen overnight with a new GOP administration. Any dismantling promises to be just as much of a slog as was its creation.

Mitt Romney has been the most persistent in claiming that as president, he would free states from the law's requirements with an executive order on his first day in charge, even though he would have no authority to do so. Rick Perry has held out the prospect of lower health insurance premiums once the law is gone, citing research that actually tells a mostly different story.

Herman Cain would like to turn repeal into a birthday present of sorts. He says if Congress moves fast enough he'd sign the repeal March 23, 2013 — his son's birthday and the third anniversary of the law's signing.

All place the law's repeal as a chief component of their plans to grow the economy and jobs, rightly noting the overhaul's myriad regulations but overselling the ability of one act of legislative subtraction to lift all boats.
A look at some of the claims in the Republican campaign and how they compare with the facts:

ROMNEY: "One thing I'd do on Day One if I'm elected president is direct my secretary of health and human services to put an executive order granting a waiver from Obamacare to all 50 states. It is bad law. It will not work. And I'll get that done on Day One." — Claim in Sept. 7 debate, which he echoed in most other debates.

PERRY: "And I'll promise you, on Day One, as the president of the United States, that executive order will be signed and Obamacare will be wiped out as much as it can be." — Sept. 7 debate.

CAIN: "I'm going to un-pass it on my son's birthday." — Nov. 2 forum with the GOP's Congressional Health Care Caucus.

MICHELE BACHMANN: "With all due respect ... issuing an executive order will not overturn this massive law." — Sept. 7 debate.

THE FACTS: Bachmann is right, and it's not the first time she corrected her rivals on the matter.

A president cannot overturn a law with an executive order. Moreover, the health law lays out an onerous process for letting individual states off the hook from its requirements; that process cannot begin until 2017.

For a state to be granted a waiver, it must show that it will provide coverage that is at least as comprehensive and affordable as under the federal law. Also, a state has to insure a comparable number of its residents, and its plan must not add to the federal deficit by shifting costs to Washington. Finally, a state has to enact its own health law setting up the system envisioned in its waiver request.

Romney's assertion also implies that all states would want to get out of the health care law. That's a doubtful proposition for Democratic-leaning states.

Cain recognizes that for the law to be repealed, Congress must act. But presidents don't set the congressional calendar, and even if Republicans can secure a 60-vote majority that gives them control of the Senate, the train of legislation seldom runs on schedule.
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ROMNEY: "On Day One, granting a waiver to all 50 states doesn't stop in its tracks entirely Obamacare. That's why I also say we have to repeal Obamacare, and I will do that on Day Two with a reconciliation bill, because, as you know, it was passed by reconciliation, 51 votes. We can get rid of it with 51 votes." — Oct. 11 debate.

THE FACTS: This is a strategy to undermine the law by starving it of money. Its only real chance is if Republicans win congressional majorities as well as the presidency or at the very least a rash of improbable Democratic defections in Congress.

Although not a single-day project, it represents one threat to Obama's law, if one with political risk and tough odds. Some core parts of the law are not dependent on annual budgeting.

Going beyond the budget process to repeal the law in full is an even steeper climb. It would require a larger Republican congressional majority to move forward and to clinch 60 votes in the Senate — all this as the law increasingly takes root in the nation's medical and insurance system.

The law extends coverage to uninsured citizens and legal immigrants by providing tax credits to help middle-class households buy a policy and by expanding Medicaid for low-income people. It would require almost all people to carry health insurance, either through an employer, a government program or by individual purchase. It would set up health insurance markets in every state to make it easier for individuals and small business to buy coverage. It's financed through tax increases and Medicare cuts.
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PERRY: "According to CBO's own calculations, repealing Obamacare will reduce the cost of health insurance premiums and reduce federal spending on health care." — His economic plan.

THE FACTS: No one can be sure what would happen with premiums absent the health care law, but Perry's use of a Congressional Budget Office analysis was selective, at best.

The nonpartisan congressional accountants forecast that repeal of the law would raise premiums for people who get coverage from large-employer plans, not lower them, and that premiums could go either way for small-employer plans. About half the population is covered by such work-based insurance.

The CBO says repeal of the law probably would result in lower premiums in the individual insurance market, which covers about 4 percent of the population.

But there are important caveats. Many policyholders would probably end up paying more because they would not get the insurance subsidies provided under the law, the analysis says.

Individual insurance policies on average would provide fewer benefits, and cover less of an enrollee's health care expenses, than will be provided by the insurance exchanges coming into effect under the law.

The analysis also projected that repealing the law would increase the federal deficit.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.

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